The Stereotypical Racial Class Given to Blacks Creates an Inferior Socioeconomic Class

Comedy consists of many components. It starts with the formation of comedic writing and leads to current day comedic skit. Early comedy dates back to Greek and Latin writers and is used to describe works with happy conclusions. Middle aged comedy shifted work to more substantial “happy endings”. A current definition of the word defined by the Oxford English Dictionary states, “That branch of the drama which adopts a humorous or familiar style, and depicts laughable characters and incidents” (Comedy, 2012). This definition brings us to the issue in review. Comedy is made to evoke laughter from its viewers; whether that laughter is from verbal stories, visual cues, or socially excluded ideas. In doing so, comedy constantly touches on issues of current events, human endeavor, and the too familiar issue of race.

Formed from character constructs, cast diversity, and storyline, race in comedy follows many stereotypical viewpoints to create the racial character. The character described empowers the racial description, commonly depicted across television comedy. Racial humor in television comedy creates a framework describing Black characters, prevalent in many television programs, exhibiting their family dynamics, speech, mannerisms, and socioeconomic status.

The use speech in television comedy characterizes racial Black stereotypes. One major example of racist speech forms in the syntax and diction of language. Lenny Henry’s Live and Unleashed explains some of the common language derived stereotypes. While not a television show, comedian Henry uses a concert film to display Steve Martin, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy, all played by Henry. Using common stereotypes, he forms a concentrated skit that highlights the “stereotypical depict...

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